New Delhi: The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) on Friday called for reopening of the campus, libraries and hostel mess in a phased manner.
Satish Chandra Yadav, general secretary, JNUSU said PhD final year students and those without any means to study online should be allowed to come back to the campus.
"The administration needs to make a priority list. The students of final year PhD courses and those who do not have computers at home, or are victims of the digital divide, should be allowed to come back," he said.
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus was closed in March last year in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The phased reopening of the campus began on November 2 last year.
The varsity had allowed only PhD Science students from the PWD (Persons With Disability) category to return to the campus from December 21. Earlier, the administration had allowed Science students from other categories who require access to laboratories, to return.
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However, the university had announced that the central library, all canteens and dhabas would remain closed due to the pandemic.
"Libraries should be opened while following COVID-19 precautions. And if even that is not possible, students should at least be allowed to get books issued from the library," Yadav suggested.
Earlier in the day, JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh shared a video on Twitter which purportedly showed tattered documents of a student, and alleged that all the degree documents of the student got ruined due to the prolonged lockdown.
"Mamidala is forcefully implementing lockdown in JNU. Check this video, how all the degrees of a student has got spoilt. There will be several other cases too. The Administration should immediately re-open the campus and stop spoiling the academic future of the students," she tweeted.
Echoing Ghosh’s stance, JNUSU general secretary Yadav said there have been several such cases where birds got inside the hostel rooms and caused filth.
"Several students found fungus on their books and other articles since the rooms have been closed for such a long time," he added.
PTI
